Indo student among victims

The family of an Indonesian doctoral student among the 32 killed
by a lone gunman at a US university struggled today to comprehend
the slaying, after selling off property and cars to pay
tuition.

Partahi Lumbantoruan, 34, had been studying civil engineering at
Virginia Tech for three years, said his father, Tohom Lumbantoruan,
a 66-year-old retired army officer.

"We tried everything to completely finance his studies in the
United States," he said. "We only wanted him to succeed in his
studies, but ... he met a tragic fate."

His stepmother, Sugiyarti, said her son had called almost daily
to talk to the family. In their last conversation he had asked for
the latest news on Indonesian politics.

"Why can people bring guns to campus?" she asked, weeping. "How
is it possible that so many innocent people could be killed? How
could it happen?"

Like many Indonesians she goes by one name.

An aunt, 53-year-old Christina Panjaitan, said her nephew was
hardworking, intelligent and never complained. "He told me he
wanted to teach in America," she said.

Family members hoped the body would be returned home soon for a
public burial in Jakarta.

The shooting spree on Monday by Cho Seung-hui - a 23-year-old
South Korean student who killed himself as police closed in - was
the deadliest in US history and sparked fresh criticism about the
country's gun control laws.

Lumbantoruan was among 16 Indonesian students at Virginia Tech,
said Foreign Ministry spokesman Kristiarto Legowo.

"We hope the US government will take immediate measures to
prevent all students studying in America from suffering similar
tragedies in the future," he said, offering condolences to families
of the victims.

Lumbantoruan will be buried alongside his birth mother, who died
when he was in elementary school.